Installation for dyeing sleeves

ABSTRACT

APPARATUS FOR DYEING AND THE TREATMENT OF LOOSELY WOUND SLEEVES COMPRISING A HORIZONTAL WORKING TANK, A HORIZONTAL PERFORATED MATERIAL HOLDER FOR THE SLEEVES WITHIN THE TANK, AN EXTRACTOR DISC SLIDABLE MOUNTED ON THE HOLDER, OPERATING RODS EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE HOLDER AND   FIXED TO THE DISC AND A SECOND DISC SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON THE HOLDER AND DETACHABLY SECURED TO THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE RODS.

Nov. 2, 1971 P. LIBBRECHT INSTALLATION FOR DYEING SLEEVES 4 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Sept. 12, 1968 lNVIz'N'I'OR. P. L L b [2 re c I? Z NW, 2, ENE P.LIBBRECHT INSTALLATION FOR DYEING SLEEVES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept12,, 1968 nvvm'nm. P. L L'bb r= sac/7 25 BY ahww gw A TTO n N 5 Nov. 2,1971 P. LIBBRECHT INSTALLATION FOR DYEING SLEEVES 4 Sheets-Sheet FiledSept. 12, 1968 INVh'N'I'UR. L L b b rec h t ATTORNEX'S Nov. 2, 1971 P.LIBBRECHT 3,616,654

INSTALLATION FOR DYEING SLEEVES Filed Sept. 12, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4[fig 7 w 1/ 74 Q3; L Q1 70 0 7/ 6 \S 5 74 P. Lc'bbrecht hdmrk ATTOYLNEHSUnited States Patent 9 3,616,664 INSTALLATION FOR DYEING SLEEVES PierreLibbrecht, Tournai, Belgium, assignor to SA. Teinturerie des Francs,Tourcoing, France Filed Sept. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 759,291 Int. Cl. B05c8/02 U.S. Cl. 68-189 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus fordyeing and the treatment of loosely wound sleeves comprising ahorizontal working tank, a horizontal perforated material holder for thesleeves within the tank, an extractor disc slidably mounted on theholder, operating rods extending parallel to the holder and fixed to thedisc and a second disc slidably mounted on the holder and detachablysecured to the opposite ends of the rods.

The dyeing and related treatments of various natural, artificial andsynthetic threads and fibres, for example those intended for knittedgoods, haberdashery and the like, are at present particularly delicateand difficult since, in order to obtain the required qualities inrespect to uniformity and swelling, the fibres can only be treated inthe form of a skein weighing approximately 400 gr. which implies, interalia, the necessity of employing numerous and particularly conscientiousworkers. In fact, since the skeins are conventionally supplied in bundleform by the spinner, they must firstly be unpacked, put on a bar andopened. These loaded bars are then mounted on a material-holder, afterwhich the spread of the skeins must again be checked. After thematerial-holder has been in the working tanks or chambers, the skeinsmust be removed from the bars and gathered together in hanks, eachweighing approximately 1 kg., in order to pass to the operation ofdrying without heating. After this operation, the hanks must beseparated and the skeins are replaced individually on the bars in orderto pass to the operation of drying. Finally the skeins must beindividually handled in order to unravel and check them, before beingmade into bundles and packed for dispatch.

Besides the numerous manual operations which it requires, this processalso includes the disadvantage that it seriously limits the speed ofcirculation of the baths, due to the danger of felting of the fibres inskein form. Finally the ground surface area occupied by an installationapplying the above conventional process is extremely great, since eachtreatment tank for example requires a spreading area which occupies byitself three or four times the surface area of the tank, if the maximumprofit-earning potential of the material is. to be obtained.

It must be stated that processes for dyeing threads which are lessdifficult and more rapid, for example processes using cones or beams,are known. These techniques cannot be applied to the threads intendedfor knitted goods, haberdashery and the like since the threads which arewound on cones or beams have virtually no freedom to permit the fibresto swell.

It has also already been proposed that skeins should be dyed in looseform, being placed in pervious wrappings and arranged in baskets whichare then immersed in the tanks. However this technique can only beemployed when the requirements in respect of quality are relativelymodest, such as for example for the threads for carpets. In fact skeinswhich are thus arranged and placed in tanks are compressed, whichreduces the freedom for the fibres to expand and can also cause thethreads to break.

It has also already been proposed that the threads should be wound inthe form of sleeves weighing approximately 3 kg. under pervious andelastic wrappings. This 3,616,664 Patented Nov. 2., 1971 "ice method isof advantage in that it facilitates handling and unwinding. On the otherhand, when such sleeves are conventionally placed in the treatmentbaths, they bunch and lose their homogeneity so that the desireduniformity and swelling cannot be systematically obtained. It must bestated here that in the present description, the term sleeve indicates awinding or coil in cylindrical form with a cylindrical axial bore andwithout a support such as a cone, reel or the like.

The aim of the present invention is to simplify considerably the dyeingand related treatments of natural, artificial and synthetic threads andfibres, in various forms such as threads, textiles and the like which,after these treatments, must meet rigorous requirements in respect ofuniformity, swelling, structure, etc.

An advantage of the present invention is to permit the baths to berenewed substantially more frequently than in conventionalinstallations, which permits a wider range of coloring agents andproducts for related treatments to be used.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it requires only arelatively small quantity of water, which permits substantial economiesto be made with respect to coloring agents, heat etc.

Yet another advantage of the invention lies in the treatment of texturedand elastomer threads which avoids detrimentally affecting the qualitiesof elasticity, swelling etc.

The invention includes installations which are mainly characterized byat least one substantially horizontal working tank provided withinternal means for supporting and maintaining at least one sleeve sothat said sleeve is arranged horizontally. The internal means can withad vantage be arranged to support a plurality of sleeve arranged end toend, in one or more lines.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be moreclearly apparent from the embodiments described hereinafter by way ofnon-limitative example, with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 shows a side elevation of an installation arranged to carry outthe process according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the installation illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows in cross-section on an enlarged scale the material-holderto be used in the tank of the installation shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an end view;

FIG. 5 is a transverse cross section of another embodiment of theworking tank,

And FIGS. 6 and 7 are installation diagrams showing a plurality ofworking tanks.

The installation to carry out the above defined process, and shown inFIGS. 1 to 4, substantially comprises a frame 1, supporting, inter alia,a horizontal working tank 2. The height of this frame 1, or the distancebetween the loading door 3 and the ground, depends on the height of theconventional trucks used for handling the material, so that the contentsof said tank can be tipped directly into the trucks. Arranged in thetank 2 is an axial materialholder 4 mounted at one of its ends on theend of said tank 2, the material-holder being hollow and being connectedto a pipe 5 of the bath circulation circuit. The other end of thiscirculation circuit comprises a pipe 6 connected toward the end of saidtank, for example, to a dispersion ring (not shown). The circuit towhich the pipes 5 and 6 belong, also comprises a pump 7 driven by amotor 8, a heat exchanger 9 and a container 10 acting as a compressionchamber provided with a heating stirrer and a coil. A set of taps 15permits the container 10 to be isolated during operation and to beopened after cooling; the outlet 12 of this container is connected tothe intake of the circulating pump 7.

The working tank 2 is also provided with a safety valve 13 and a pipe 14with a variable flow tap 11 which permits a continuous leak to beformed, ensuring that air is eliminated in the course of treatment.

The hollow material-holder 4 is provided with a plurality ofperforations 16, the diameters of which may increase from the end of thetank toward the free end of said material-holder (not shown), in orderto make the flow of solution uniform along said material-holder when thebath is passed through the pipe 5. An extractorseparator 17 comprising adisc 18 which is preferably perforated, can slide along saidmaterial-holder 4. The ends of two operating rods 19 are fixed on thedisc 18, the other ends of the rods ending in a handle 20. These rods 19are intended to co-operate with two notches 21 in a second separatordisc 22 which also slides along the material-holder 4 and the positionof which thereon can be adjusted by means of a pin 23.

To facilitate loading the sleeves, illustrated in diagrammatic form at24, a removable cone 25 can be fitted on to the free end of thematerial-holder 4.

Operation of this installation, as far as the present invention isconcerned, is substantially as follows. The sleeves supplied by thespinner are firstly unpacked, then threaded one after the other on tothe material-holder 4 from which the disc 22 has previously beenremoved. The disc 22 is replaced at the end of the loading operation,being held in place by the pin 23, and the rods 19 are then engaged insaid slots 21. The door 3 of the tank is then closed and treatment ofthe fibres can begin. Since this door is provided with a sealing means(not shown), the installation permits treatment to be under pressure andat high temperature. The treatment bath can circulate in the twodirections, from the interior to the exterior or from the exterior tothe interior of the material, the bath being introduced into the tank .2either by means of the pipe through the inside of the material-holder 4or by means of the pipe 6. Since the sleeves 24 are supported on theinside by the material-holder 4 and on the outside by the elastic meshnet described hereinbefore, the original homogeneity of the sleeves isretained, i.e. there is practically no movement of the turns of thewinding forming each of the sleeves; the speed of circulation of thetreatment baths can be very high without there being any danger offelting, which permits diflicult coloring agents to be used.

A gate valve 26 by-pass mounted on the intake and the delivery of thecirculation group permits the flow rate of the bath circulating throughthe material to be varied.

When the treatment is concluded and the tank 2 is emptied, the door 3 ofthe tank is opened, the rods 19 are released from the notches 21 and thedisc 22 is removed. With a truck (not shown) having been positionedunder the mouth of the tank from which the door 3 has been released, theoperator can take hold of the two handles 20 and by pulling on them, canmove the disc 18 toward the outlet of the tank, which causes each of thesleeves 24 to fall successively into the truck. These sleeves can thenbe passed as they are to the drying without heating and the dryingoperations, to arrive finally atdispatch, Where the operation ofchecking, which used to require a long and careful preliminary coilingoperation, is reduced to a simple surface inspection of each sleeve.

'It is obvious that the tank 2 could have an internal diarm etersuflicient to contain a plurality of material-holders 4, for exampleseven material-holders arranged as illustrated in FIG. 5.

Moreover the above described installation could be provided with aplurality of tanks, for example two in the case of FIG. 6 and four inthe case of FIG. 7. In these tWo examples, the treatment tanks caneither operate together or separately. Thus, in the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 6, isolating gate valves indicated at 2'7 permit oneof the tanks to be isolated from the bath circulation circuit while inthe example illustrated in FIG. 7, the valves 28 and 2 9 permit one ortwo of the four tanks of the installation to be isolated.

It is obvious that the above described installations can be widelymodified without going outside the scope of the present invention aslong as they retain at least one substantially horizontal treatment tankarranged to receive sleeves of fibres, arranged end to end in one ormore lines parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tank.

What I claim is:

1. The installation for dyeing and treating various natural andsynthetic threads and fibers having the shape of sleeves which areloosely wound without continuous contact between adjacent threads, whichcomprises a horizontal cylindrical working tank, a perforated materialholder mounted horizontally within said tank and having one endconnected with one end of said tank, an extractor disc slidably mountedupon said holder, two operating rods extending parallel to said holderand having adjacent ends fixed to said disc, handles connected to theopposite ends of said rods, and a second disc slidably mounted upon saidholder adjacent the other end thereof and having notches cooperatingwith said opposite ends of the rods.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 942,166 12/1909 Daniell et al8155.1 997,292 7/1911 Hebden et al. 8- -155.1 1,967,252 7/1934 Moritz8155.1 2,168,997 8/1939 Lankes et al 239-561 UX 2,509,282 5/1950Woodruff 68189 2,919,861 1/1960 Meek 239561 X 3,087,322 4/1963 Bahlo678-189 FOREIGN PATENTS 277,866 11/ 1964 Australia 68-189 32,980 1/1928France 68189 (Addition to 597,043) 342,340 7/ 1904 France 68--189805,198 8/1936 France 8155.1 4,509 3/1887 Great Britain 68-489 DANIELBLUM, Primary Examiner

